Since it opened in June 2004, Full Tilt has been the online poker site of choice for thousands of budding poker players and professionals alike. Its excellent software, vibrant graphics, and innovative games made it extremely popular with players around the world.
When it first launched, Full Tilt Poker US customers were welcomed with open arms and they flocked to the site in droves for the reasons stated above, but also because the company was fronted by the likes of Howard Lederer, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Mike Matusow, and Phil Ivey, all of whom had become household names due to televised poker shows.
At Full Tilt Poker, USA residents could do exactly what the sites tagline suggested, “Learn, Chat and Play with the Pros,” and they did in massive numbers, helping to propel Full Tilt to second place in terms of real money cash game players, trailing only the mighty PokerStars in regards to traffic. Business was booming, tournament prize pools were swelling, and everything was rosy.
There's a hack that allow you to play online poker for real money in the US and anywhere in the world for that matter. You basically play in Seals with Clubs by using Bitcoins. Back when this question was first posted the site wasn't that big, but today it holds enough tables and player to make it an pretty nice site.
Then came what is known in the poker industry as “Black Friday.” Aptly, on Friday 13 October, 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIEGA) came into force, which essentially made it illegal for banks and other financial institutions to process payments to gambling websites offering their services to residents of the United States.
While some online poker sites, such as partypoker, immediately withdrew from the U.S, others like PokerStars and Full Tilt continued to operate on American soil. It was a decision that paid off handsomely for PokerStars, but it was the beginning of the end for Full Tilt.
Poker sites had to be creative in order to process payments, thinking outside of the box for ways to have their players deposit and withdraw funds from the site. Unfortunately for Full Tilt Poker, US payment providers proved troublesome, which combined with some serious mismanagement by Full Tilt’s backroom staff, resulted in a huge black hole of funds.
Full Tilt continued to credit players’ account with the amounts they had attempted to deposit, but sometimes never received those funds from the payment provider. Its management team continued to do this for quite a length of time until the problem came to light and a figure of $300 million in “lost” funds was made public. This $300 million figure was what the American Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed Full Tilt had defrauded out of its customers, although former owner Chris Ferguson’s lawyer suggested the issue was most likely the result of mismanagement and not malice.
After the wheels fell off Full Tilt Poker, USA customers could no longer play on the once thriving site, in fact nobody could because Full Tilt was taken offline, seemingly lost forever, along with hundreds of millions of Full Tilt customers’ money.
US Players And Full Tilt Poker In 2015
This remained the case until July 2012 when the DOJ and PokerStars reached an agreement that saw PokerStars pay the DOJ $225 million up front and a total of $547 million. PokerStars also made $184 million available to refund all non-U.S. players within 90-days of signing the deal. Full Tilt Poker US customers are still to this day receiving their fund back from the DOJ, despite PokerStars making their balances available immediately.
On Tuesday 6 November, 2012, Full Tilt relaunched its real money operations, although Full Tilt USA was no more, the door slammed shut on them, just as it had for PokerStars’ American customers.
To this day, Full Tilt Poker US operations are non-existent, but that could be all set to change because PokerStars reentered the U.S. market on Wednesday 16 March, 2016 with a soft-launch, albeit only in the state of New Jersey. PokerStars has spent heavily in lobbying for other states to allow online poker, which if successful, could open the gates for a return of Full Tilt Poker US.
However, a full return of the original Full Tilt USA friendly site is actually unlikely because in February 2016, PokerStars announced its intentions to merge Full Tilt and PokerStars traffic during the Spring of 2016.
Although Full Tilt Poker US is no more, there are a number of alternatives for Americans wanting to play online poker in the USA. Currently, players can choose to head to 888poker, partypoker, PokerStars, and WSOP when they are in New Jersey, or WSOP.com when in the state of Nevada.
In short, Americans cannot play at Full Tilt unless they are prepared to move to a country where Full Tilt currently operates.
Learn About Full Tilt
Full Tilt is one of the best online poker rooms in 2016 due to the wide variety of great games, its lucrative welcome package and promotions, it’s world-leading software, and great customer support and banking options. Full Tilt is also the home to many great poker tournament series, most notably the infamous Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS).
The company is owned by Amaya Inc., the owners of PokerStars, StarsDraft, and many other reputable brands. In addition to poker games, Full Tilt offers a popular casino with a shared wallet with the poker account.
Enjoy a $600 Welcome Package
Full Tilt boasts one of the best welcome packages available to PokerNews readers with a huge 100% first deposit bonus of up to $600, access to bankroll-building Welcome Freerolls, and automatic access to the Players Club.
Getting your hands on this amazing welcome package couldn’t be any easier. Simply download Full Tilt through our links, create your account, and make a deposit and you will see your bankroll double up to an additional $600. It is really that easy!
Full Tilt Poker Free Games
In additional, players have plenty of chances to grow their bankrolls even more at no risk thanks to the Welcome Freerolls that run twice-a-day at 10:15 ET and 16:15 ET. The freerolls offers $200 worth of tournament and ring game tickets which can be used in many of the most popular games featured at Full Tilt.
Earn Big in the Players Club
Becoming part of the Players Club, Full Tilt’s exclusive VIP program is automatic once you create your account through our links and make your first deposit.
The highlight of the Players Club is known as The Deal, a free game you can play with Coins the free virtual currency you earn while playing any real-money casino or poker game where jackpots often exceed six-digits!
The game combines both casino and poker all into one, and is easy for any poker player to play. First you have a choice whether to enter a 1 Coin or 10 Coin game and are instantly dealt seven cards face down. You simply choose which two cards to discard, and use the other five to create a poker-hand.
As long as you hold ace-high or better you win a prize, however, if you nail down a Royal Flush, you will win a chance at the huge Deal Jackpot!
Additionally, being a member of the Players Club has other benefits including access to many exclusive freerolls and the Weekly Winfall where you can win prizes ranging to a $5,000 Freeroll to $1,000 in cold-hard cash!
Earn Even More with the Edge
Another way to grab free loot at Full Tilt is via the Edge. By earning enough Full Tilt Points, you can grow your bankroll via the many rewards including weekly cash-back payments and monthly leaderboards. Additionally, players that gain the Edge will have exclusive access to the Edge Store, which is stocked with some amazing cash bonuses up to $1,000.
Enjoy Great Software and Games at Full Tilt Poker
What keeps customers happy isn’t just the great welcome package and promotions, but also the amazing software and games.
Many consider Full Tilt to have the best software in the industry. It is not only easy to use, but also very user-friendly with a fun atmosphere with the choice of many cartoon avatars. Preset betting, ability to mass multi-table, and intuitive lobby are just some of the great aspects of the software.
Full Tilt offers a wide variety of poker games at a wide-variety of stakes in an even wider variety of poker variants including Texas hold’em, Omaha, Omaha h/l, Stud, Razz, draw-games, and many popular mixed games. Players also can also run-it-twice in many of the games, and option you may have seen some of the poker pros utilize when playing nosebleed ring games on TV.
Full Tilt Free Poker Download
Full Tilt also offers a full slate of poker tournaments and sit-and-go’s providing players exciting action around the clock.
Two of the more popular games that are exclusive to Full Tilt are Rush Poker and Jackpot Sit & Go’s.
Rush Poker was the first fast-fold poker game in the online poker marketplace and is offered on Full Tilt in ring-games and tournaments. The game is addictive due to its high-octane pace, since when players fold they are quickly escorted to a new table with new players. This enables players to enjoy more hands per hour per table.
Jackpot Sit & Go’s are great for either grinding or if you just have a few minutes to play. These games are three-max hyper-turbo sit-and-go’s where the prize pool is selected at random from 2-times to 2,000-times the buy-in!
Full Tilt Customer Support & Banking
Full Tilt features one of the best customer support teams in the industry providing quick answers to any questions its customers may have via its FAQ section or through email. While there is no live or telephone support, the accuracy and quickness of the responses via email make these methods unnecessary.
Banking at Full Tilt also receives top-grades offering all the popular deposit and withdrawal options. Withdrawals are processed in a timely manner, usually within just a couple of days – if not faster – depending on the option used.